This couldn’t happen... could it?
[ MORE: Player Power Rankings ]
The Daily Express is reporting that Manchester United are ready to make a move for Alexis Sanchez this summer with the Arsenal superstar set to have only 12 months left on his contract with the Gunners at the end of this season.
With Sanchez, 28, still not agreeing to a new deal (along with Mesut Ozil and manager Arsene Wenger) it appears increasingly likely he’ll leave the Emirates Stadium this summer.
[ LIVE: Stream every PL game live ]
The Chilean attacker has been involved in more PL goals than any other player this season, scoring 17 goals and adding nine assists, as his importance to Arsenal was highlighted by his benching in the 3-1 defeat at Liverpool last weekend where he came on at half time to set up Danny Welbeck’s goal and prove a handful before almost netting a late equalizer.
Reports of Sanchez having a training ground bust-up with teammates have leaked out after his benching but Wenger has dismissed those rumors. Still, the former Barcelona and Udinese forward seems far from happy. He has been linked with moves to Chelsea and Manchester City in the Premier League, plus Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Atletico Madrid and also rumors about a big money move to China continue.
He’s a born winner and has been close to tears when being subbed off this season, is often told to stop training so hard and he reacted furiously when Arsenal’s players celebrated drawing 3-3 at Bournemouth in January after they trailed 3-0 late on. Yet, when he was subbed out in Arsenal’s humiliating UEFA Champions League defeat against Bayern Munich in midweek he was seen smirking on the bench.
Where would he fit in at United?
Well, Jose Mourinho certainly has options with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Henrik Mkhitaryan all available to play wide. It’s likely Wayne Rooney will leave this summer and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s future seems to be in doubt too, so perhaps a slot is opening up for Sanchez.
With Antoine Griezmann looking likely to stay at Atletico Madrid this summer, United may move for Sanchez and then it becomes a very tricky situation for Arsenal. Do they risk losing Sanchez for nothing in the summer of 2018? Or cash in and get $30 million this summer?
The Gunners would much rather Sanchez moved abroad but with PL clubs queuing up to offer him a big improvement on his current $160,000 per week wages, the fierce competitor would surely prefer to remain in the PL.